Toy electric railway apparatus



Jan. 1, 1935. F. w. HEHRE 1,986,635

TOY ELECTRIC RAILWAY AQPPARATUS Filed Nov. 12, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet.)-

ATTORNEY Jan. 1, 1935. F. w. HEHRE 1,986,635

TOY ELECTRIC RAILWAY APPARATUS Filed Nov. 12, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INNT R F/tc/er/ck e c Q )fawad ATTORNEY Thisinvention relates topowendevicesfor Patented Jan. 1, i

On -RAILWAY. APPARATUS Frederick w. HehreIArIington, N.J.,' assignor toa u yLeon ifl ltosenthal, New York, N. Y.

Applicationlqoveinb er 12, 1930, serial Noi 495,015 t f operatingtoy'electric railway track and way elereciprocating solenoid-actuatedplungerg an 191 6; "trical switch. i V11 2 One'object ofthis'inventionis t6 combine with ments, such as track switcheasemaphorea gates Another object is to provide an electrical switch'which may be" combined with plungers now in use without inateriallyodifying the construction thereof l Still another object to provide "2,electrical 1 7 switch which may not alone befcombined with said plungerwithout hrequiringr material r'nodi fication or reconstruction thereofgbutwhich may be housed in the same icasing as'that in which saidplungeris housed;

ther object 1s-to provide m'eans' forsup I h porting,- centeringandbalancing the 'plunger per se; v

? Another object --to-'-combine an 1 electrical switch with" saidplunger in such a way ast'o support,- center and balance said plungerinsaid appear hereafter. 35

In the accompanying drawingsfiillu strating the preferred embodimentlofthe invention, i

tions therebetween; Fig.-2 is a sectionon the-- it so Fig. 1 is a plan"View; partly in section and partly diagrammaticallmof a combinedelectrical switch and reciprocating solenoid-actuated plunger, a toyelectric" railway having a -track switch and mechanical and 1 electricalconnec line-2'- 2 -of Fig; 1; and Fig; 3 anelectrical andcircuit diagramof: theapparatus shown" in a Referring to 'Figs. 1 and 2, there) isshown a casing cornprising acover plate l and side plates 2 and 3.*Ins'ulatively mounted on-saidsideplates are contact strips 4,; 5" and 6"espective1yh In i said casingis-disposed a double' 'throw sol'enoidcqnsis n 9f. wiles; acclaim which is disbdsed forreciproeating-movement*the plunger 10. The latter is provided with anextension 11 which is mechanically connected by a pin 12 to a rack nIductor, so that it=wil1 be apparent current will element 13 lying overthe tjsolen oidand a push rod Q14; connected to the track switch 21 Therack is 'disposed between guides 15, 15,"andhas atoothedorrack section13a which meshes with a pinion l fif riveted at 17 to a rotatablebracket 18 upon which "is mounted a lamp housing 19 having suitablegreen and red. lenses 2( )L f Ihe track switch 21 is pivotedat 21"iorreversible operatiombut the push rod 14 may be connected instead'to asemaphore, gate oriother reversible track onwaye lernent of a toyelectric railway. Securedtothe rack element )3 is; a switch bridgingdevice comprising i an insulating strip 22 carrying conducting opposedspring .larms 23 and-2e at {the ends of which are rotatively mountedmetal rollers 25- and 26 arranged to roll over contacts" 4, 5 and 6. Theinsulated piece 22, the arms23 and 24,rollers 25"an'd 26 i andcontacts4, 5 and 6, comprise the electrical (switch referred to herein.t

t e pinl2" is preferably rigid withithe bittension '11 and rack element13, and since the elec trical switch arms are rigid with said rack element and supported by and between the contacts 4;5 and 6,fit will be-s'een that thejsaid electricalswitch acts to support, center and'balfan ce the plungeras well asthe rack. Thejspring aims-2a andiziam o c usclse t urget't h rollers 25' and' 26against the jcontacts 4, 5*and 6. vThe bracket 18 is enclosed in a stationary housing 27 carrying aninsulated contactl 28 connectedto the current sourceand furnishingcurrent toy-a lampy29-contacting therewith'and inserted in a socketsupported onf thebrac ket 18. ":The plunger, when thrown, operatesthrough h pi he rus rod lathe ack sw 1;

thera ck and pinion 13,i16,the switch arms 23, 24,and tlie'bracket andhousing lil, 19; When thrown from the position shown in the fi ures'tits opposite position, the plunger moves the track switch "from theposition shown "to aposition w eres train is: permittedtorun from themain track into theshunt and vice yersa'; the housing l9-is jrotated -a'quarter "or a and the rollers 25; 26 are moved from engagementfwithcontacts-i and 5 to"engagement with contacts 4 and6. t

In'the embodiment of Fig.1,"contact}i of the electrical switch" isconnected at all times tothe current source,qwhile contacts 5 and 6''arere 's'fictively"connected" to "insulated sections 36 rspectivelyrb restof thetrack' is'at all times connected to the source. The arms 23 and24are electrically connected by a suitable conbe stats-a1 through saidelectrical switch either to contact 5 or 6 and consequently to eithersection 36 or 3 6', depending upon theis energized while section 36 inthe shunt is de:

energized for the purpose fully described in my May 28, 1929, and SerialWhen the track switch is reversed or reset for: shunt track operation,thenthe electrical switch 9 is moved so that section 36 is energized andsec,

copending applications.

act 236 he lamphousing 27 is constantgp v sfclia amniatically a slightlydiffit arrangement-er "man contacts. Here isle of the. casing there areprovided two p "'34," one long and the other short,

t ey side there are also two' con- 'h'eLone short and the others'mounted opposite along a ontact is ,mounted opposite ntac'tfLongcontactBZ is connected by 1'3Itoohe'end cre he while the other ectedby conductor 35 to pole'lIdouble-throw mane 1Long contact 32 is a vtojone enclof coil 8, if said clfiil 'is connected by tact 37b'i'of saidmanual a t 13 c nn ted by 'sulated section 36, while short "t '34. isojnnect e'dbyfconductor 38 toinsect 3 The. 'rrhs 123, 24 are contheZsurceof current by F1 3v efas that shown V 'the rrnechanlca operation isalso I llowev'er, therefils a'virltue in the pecuhstruction andarrangement or the electrin'tacts 3lfahd34' which is t ihheren 1nthose,shown inFig. 1, and one ha' sh sa areascreati r the hsc cd that thci cuit, r u h. i o s. sheer one QQIYQEWFGQ on a; the cc actsc thcsw ,hBIZ- .i hc fo e cchtact he helchst c cc lrwillh ener ed or r, mmateria hther th called short contacts are really short or long sih eih cmcrclvrc idc a cst capla c f h al arm ahcah tct c hr cchoir t e tions; Theshortcontacts i rc s n essit to? copending applicationsSeriali",No.'.366,590, filed,

tion 36' deenergized, as fully explained in said scribed will be moreclearly understood from a description of the operation of the apparatusdisclosed in said Fig. 3.

It will first of all be observed that the track switch is set for maintrack operation and that accordingly section 36 is energized throughelectrical switch arm 24 (connected to the source of current), contact34' and conductor 38, while section 36 in the shuntis deenergized, arm23 (also connected to the source) being disconnected from contact34which connects with said section. Now, when the blade of switch 37 isthrown into engagement with contact 37, a circuit is I'co'mpletedthrough coil 9, this circuit being from the source, through arm 23,roller 25, contact 32,

-con1ductor33 and blade to ground. Current flows through said coil '9,energizing it and producing thereby 'apull on the plunger which resetsthe switch for shunt operation and moves the arms 23, 24 from engagingwith contacts 32, 34' to 34; 32', :Contact 32 is, as'will be observed,relatively' long so that the arm 2 3 wi11 remain in en: easem nt th rewihic a e ativ n p r d of time and supply current to said coil for a similr c icd sms eno h to ov h inertia of theplunger and throw it into itsfinal oppo-v site position. It will be observed that soon after the,travel of the plunger from the position shown to the: o her p s io he ar24. brea s contact wit 3%, sc' hat se tion 3 is deprived f urrent, andthat towards the end of the throw the a m. 23 r aks co act w t 32,automatically cutting off current irom coil 9, and makes con-v a tw t 3hcrebyrsupp y n current o sec-. tion 36. Thebladehfiingthrown to,contact 37a, thecircuit'through 9011 8 is broken so that when roller 26engages contact 32' no current ilows through said C011 ,andrwill notuntil the blade is thrown-to contact 3712, when, of course, coil 8 willbecome energized to reverse the throw of the plunger,- set the'trackswitch as shown, and switch-currentfrom section 36 to section 36 ,Inpractice it has becn'fcund that w n ea h long contact extends for abouttwo-thirds'of the stroke,, the parts are carried to their limitingpositions without disconcerting rebound.

Having thus described my invention, .what I claim is: a r y In a toyelectric railway apparatus, a track section including anelectromagnetically operated track switch, solenoidwindings associatedwith said switch, means for energizing said winda ings, amovable:armature adjacent said-windings, said armature being mechanicallyconnectedtoal movable element ofsaid track switch, a movablecontactelement comprising an insulatinglbar having a spring contact armpositioned at eachend thereof, said contact element secured to andoverlying said armature, stationary contacts comprising a short andalong contact positioned to engagewitheachof said spring contact armsand arranged in, such manner that one sprina ontactarm en a a ne nta tWhil the other spring contact arm engages a short contact, said shor-tcontacts each being electri; cally-ccnn tcd t a pcw r a l n s d ac Setion; and saidlong contacts each being-electrically connected toone ofsaid solenoid windings, the lengthof the long contact being more thanone-half :of the movement, of-the movable ele-.- ment.

FREDERICK, W- I-IEHZRE-

